EMBASSY
NEWSLETTER
February 25, 2011
FIRST PAGE STORY
Basketball Diplomacy
• Basketball
Diplomacy
• The First EU Agency
in Slovenia - ACER
• Invitation to U.S.Slovenia Business
Bridge
• 2012 EU US Vistors
Program
• Kavčič Wins
in Florida,
Majdič Bronze in
Holmenkolln
• Personal Story
• List To Do
Embassy of Slovenia
2410 California Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008, USA
T: +1202 386 66 01
www.washington.embassy.si
Recently, a friendship basketball game between
Georgetown and Marquette Universities took place in
Washington, D.C.
At half-time, a Basketball Diplomacy project was
promoted and celebrated. The project was organized jointly
by Georgetown University and the U.S. State Department this
past summer.
The project was a summer basketball camp in August
2010, in Planica, Slovenia, attended by over 50 young players
(ages 14-16) from Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro, under
the guidance of six Georgetown University coaches and
players.
The project, through sports activities, promotes education and
stresses the importance of friendship between countries. The Basketball Diplomacy event, presented during the
Washington basketball game was aimed at promoting international
cooperation and openness of Georgetown University. The game
was attended, among others, by Ambassador Kirn, Ambassador of
Slovenia.
Also present at the game were: Spencer Boyer, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy at the Bureau
of European and Eurasian Affairs; Ambassador of Montenegro
Srdjan Darmanović; and Vice Skračić, Deputy Chief of Mission,
from the Embassy of Croatia. As a sign of appreciation, the guests
received a G.U. basketball.
POLITICS
The first EU Agency in Slovenia - ACER
On March 3, 2011, the first European
Union agency with its seat in Slovenia – the
European Agency for the Cooperation of
Energy Regulators (ACER) – will open its
doors in Ljubljana.
The Agency is becoming ever more
important in the time of growing efforts
to strengthen the cooperation among EU
countries in the energy field and the possible
formation of the Single European Energy
Market.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel
Žbogar, in November 2010 signed the
Agreement on Headquarters between the
Government of the Republic of Slovenia and
the Agency.
The Agreement provides the legal basis
for the functioning of the Agency and settles
issues regarding the Agency’s seat, privileges
and immunities, as well as other rights and
obligations of the Republic of Slovenia and
the Agency.
The opening ceremony will take
place at ACER Headquarters in Ljubljana,
with addresses by the Prime Minister of
the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor; the
Minister of Economy, Darja Radić; the
ACER Director, Alberto Pototschnig; and the
European Commissioner for Energy, Günther
Oettinger.
BuSINESS
Invitation to U.S.-Slovenia Business Bridge
U.S.-Slovenia Business Bridge -- a
conference focused on attracting U.S.
businesses to Slovenia -- will be held in
Ljubljana from April 7 to April 9, 2011.
On the first day, the participants will have
a chance to interact with high-level Slovenian
Government officials whereas the second
day will be dedicated to the entrepreneurial
spirit and opportunities for accessing venture
capital.
U.S.-Slovenia Business Bridge is
organized by AmCham Slovenia, the Public
Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for
Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments
(JAPTI), the United States Embassy in
Ljubljana, and the Center for Entrepreneurship
and Executive Development (CEED).
Conference agenda and information available
at:http://www.amcham.si/resources/
Documents/Events/Application/ba260e0b9
b07485e8738de543a46484d.pdf
EU News
2012 EU Visitors Program
The deadline for the registering at the
2012 European Union Visitors Program
(EUVP) is March 1, 2011. The long-standing
program provides young professionals with
a unique opportunity to learn from the
inside how the European institutions work.
Participants meet with specialists in fields of
their choice as they follow extensive programs
tailored specifically to their interests in the
EU. The 5 to 8 day program in Brussels,
Strasbourg, and/or Luxembourg is jointly
sponsored and administered by the European
Parliament and the European Commission.
More info on: www.eurunion.org/delegati/
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February 25, 2011
SPORT
Kavčič Wins in Florida, Majdič bronze in Holmenkolln
Slovenia’s highest ranked men’s
tennis player, Blaž Kavčič, advanced out of
the qualifying rounds at the Delray Beach
International Tennis Tournament in Florida,
U.S. to face Colombian David Farah.
Playing in 85-degree heat, Kavčič
appeared to play his most aggressive tennis
of the tournament to date, winning the match
6-1, 6-4, after dropping serve once in the
second set, but coming back to win the last
three games of the set, up triple match point,
and closing out the match on his opponent’s
serve.
Also, congratulations to Petra Majdič,
who once again got a medal at the biggest
championship.
The World Cross Country Ski
Championship in Norway’s Holmenkolln
started in the best of ways for Slovenia. Petra
Majdič, the best Slovenian cross country skier,
won bronze medal in the first free-style race. The success was even sweeter since
Vesna Fabjan added a great fourth place.
Personal story
Experience of Slovenian Independence
Dear readers, in a previous
Newsletters, we invited you to send us short
(not more than 350 words) reminiscences about
how you experienced, wherever you were, the
Slovenian declaration of independence and
the process of gaining Slovenian statehood.
We still encourage you to send us
your contributions to: [email protected], with the
subject title My experience of Slovenian
independence.
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February 25, 2011
Personal story
Personal story of an Experience of Slovenian
It was 1991 and we were newlywed young doctors in the U.S., one of us a native born
Slovenian. We heard from family and in the media about the attacks on Slovenia by the
Serbian army. Particularly disconcerting was the Serbian Air Force advantage.
One of us wrote a letter to the local newspaper, which was published under our pseudonyms;
it detailed the problems in Slovenia at the time.
We also wrote a letter to then President Bush spelling out the problems and requesting
that he send Stinger missiles to the Slovenians. A few weeks later, a helicopter was shot down
near one of our family’s homes in Ljubljana and we began to hear reports about other aircraft
becoming victims of Stinger missiles.
Undaunted, we decided on a summer honeymoon in…Slovenia. On arrival in Paris,
one of us was nearly deported for not having a visa. Our Eurail trip from Paris to Austria
included surprise inspections by border guards with machine guns and dogs. They would flick
on the lights in the middle of the night, wake us, and ask for identification. One look at the
USA passport one of us carried calmed things down, but the older “Yugoslavian” passport
the other of us carried caused some problems.
We were traveling with backpacks and camping gear. We had visions of needing to
escape the fighting by fleeing through the Alps. We wound up needing our gear, but only to
camp in the Saint Moritz, Switzerland, campground.
From Austria, family members drove us through the Alps to Slovenia via the Karavanke
tunnel. That lack of a visa back in Paris meant we had to travel to the French Embassy
in Croatia to get a visa for our return flight home from France. Traveling from Slovenia
to Croatia by auto we passed numerous “tank-traps,” military outfits, and armed soldiers.
Military aircraft flew overhead.
We were approached by a young man of military age at a post office in Croatia. He
was in civilian clothes and spoke perfect English and Slovene. He claimed to have been born
of a Slovenian mother in the very hospital one of us was now training in back in the States.
He gave us his name and said he lived in England. He asked us a number of questions, and
told us there was fighting 30 km away. A few months later, I was never able to find him or his
name and address while in London. Was he with an intelligence agency?
Well, it was a relief to get the visa one of us needed in Zagreb and then finally return
to Slovenia. The rest of the trip was uneventful not counting the twins that we conceived in
Paris or Ljubljana.
Doctors with Twins (The Battins).
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February 25, 2011
lIST OF EVENTS
List To Do
1. Così Fan Tutte
Slovenian opera soprano Sabina Cvilak will perform in Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte in Palm
Beach Opera.
When: Friday, February 25, 26, 27 and February 28, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Where: Palm Beach Opera, 415 S. Olive Avenue, West Palm Beach, FL 33401
More info: www.pbopera.org
2. U.S. - Balkans Business Summit
The summit that will strengthen economic and commercial ties amongst the United States and
the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro,
Serbia, and Slovenia.
When: March 23- 24, 2011
Where: Baltimore (MD)
More info: www.usbalkanssummit.com
3. U.S. - Slovenia Business Bridge
The conference will focus on opportunities for U.S. investors, who will have a chance to
interact with high-level Slovenian Government Officials and network with Slovenian firms of
interest.
When: April 7-9, 2011
Where: Ljubljana, SLO
More info: http://www.amcham.si/resources/Documents/Events/Application/ba260e0b9b
07485e8738de543a46484d.pdf
4. Welcome Home 2011
For the 20th Anniversary of Slovenia’s Independence, various events will take place both in
Slovenia and around the world. One of the biggest events will be the WELCOME HOME
event, a Slovenian get-together, which will be held in Ljubljana.
When: July 1, 2011
Where: Ljubljana, Slovenia
More info: www.slovenia.info/homecoming.
The weekly Embassy Newsletter, produced by the Embassy of Slovenia in Washington., is available on:
www.washington.embassy.si.
Send us your comments or request for a subscription on: [email protected], Editors: Maša Šiftar de Arzu, Neja Brglez
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February 25, 2011